Associate Professor of English and of African and African Diaspora Studies

Contact

Interests

African diaspora, women and gender studies

Biography

Matt Richardson is Associate Professor in English, the Center for African and African American Studies, and the Center for Women's and Gender Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in African Diaspora Studies & Emphasis in Women's and Gender Studies from the University of California-Berkeley. He has published articles in Sexuality Research and Social Policy: Journal of the NSRC and The Journal of Women’s History, as well as works of fiction in publications like Pharos and Does Your Mama Know: African American Coming Out Stories. He received the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship National Fellowship for Junior Faculty and the Dean’s Fellowship in 2009.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: The eighteenth century saw the inauguration of writing from enslaved Africans in America. Even from a condition of bondage, their work contributes to literary and intellectual debates about the nature and limitations of freedom, personhood and citizenship. We will begin by examining issues of gender and sexuality from the perspectives of slaves and freed people. We will also examine works by African American authors writing a generation after slavery as they look back to slavery in order to imagine the future of African Americans. This course is a survey of major black writers in the context of slavery and its immediate aftermath. Throughout the course, we will view films and documentaries that illuminate this period of African American culture and history.

Texts: Henry Bibb: Narrative of the life and adventures of Henry Bib • Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings • David Walker: Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World • Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life • Harriet Jacobs: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl • Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Iola Leroy • Charles Chesnutt: Marrow of Tradition • Nella Larsen: Quicksand and Passing.

AFR 388 • Feminist Theories

Description: This course introduces students to feminist theory as it intersects with race, nation, and sexuality. Since this is an introductory course, we will not explore feminist theory in all its incarnations. Rather than charting the historical development of a single body of knowledge called feminism, the class will read contemporary work by women that deals with questions of representation, reproduction, labor, transnationalism, and colonialism. Each week we will unpack one primary text with the intent of understanding the circumstances of its production, its significance, and how it can help us think about our own work.

AFR S317F • African American Lit And Cul

Description: This course will survey some of the foundational texts of African American literature of the mid-to-late 20th Century. Class is a particularly important part of departure for the course material, especially as it relates to race, gender and sexual identity. As this is a writing-intensive course, we will pay particular attention to the style as well as the content of our texts. Considerable attention will be placed on close textual analysis, writing and revising skills. Discussion will also play an integral role in the course.

Description: This course is a survey of American literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will be paying particular attention to the ways in which classic short stories and plays represent American culture and confront its construction and its myths specifically through portrayals of the family. Work by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Zora Neale Hurston, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Conner, Richard Wright, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lorraine Hansberry, and Hisaye Yamamoto are examples of the texts that will serve as focal points for or our discussions about family, race, culture, identity and sexuality. Our goals are to become familiar with American literary traditions, to develop an interpretative framework with which to read these works, and to understand the particularized historical, gendered and racial context of each.

AFR 372E • Lee Danls' Emp/Black Shkspr

Lee Daniel's television series, Empire has become a cultural phenomenon. This course will look critically at how the show, Empire, has repurposed Shakespeare in order to make commentaries on Black sexuality, gender and class politics. There are many reasons for the show's popularity, not the least of which is the seemingly exceptional use of the Shakespearean themes and characters. In fact Black people from around the diaspora have and still do make use of Shakespeare as a point of reflection on contemporary and historical themes.

Readings:

Othello, King Lear, Taming of the Shrew, Black Musical Theatre: From Coontown to Dreamgirls, Shakespeare, Race, and Colonialism

Grading:

Discussion Section 15%

Paper 1 (4-6pgs) 20%

Paper 2 (4-6 pgs) 20%

Final Paper (8-10 pgs) 30%

Participation and Attendance 15%

AFR 372E • Contemp Afr Amer Women Fic

In recent years the term “queer” has emerged as an identity and an analytical framework that focuses on non-normative ways of being. This seminar will combine elements of critical race theory to investigate the particular experiences and cultural production of Black people who are determined to be gender variant and different sexualities. We will analyze written works and films/videos by and about lesbians, bisexual, transgender and gay Black people. Emphasis will be on understanding the historical and theoretical construction of sexual and gender identities and sexual/cultural practices in Black communities. Special attention will be paid to the construction of race, gender and sexual identities in North America, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: This course is a survey of major black writers in the context of slavery and its immediate aftermath from the eighteenth century and ending in the beginning of the twentieth century. The eighteenth century saw the inauguration of writing from enslaved Africans in America. Even from a condition of bondage, their work contributes to literary and intellectual debates about the nature and limitations of freedom, personhood and citizenship. We will begin by examining issues of gender and sexuality from the perspectives of slaves and freed people. Throughout the course, we will view films and documentaries that illuminate this period of African American culture and history. We will also examine works by African American authors writing a generation after slavery as they look back to slavery in order to imagine the future of African Americans.

Texts: Henry Bibb: Narrative of the life and adventures of Henry Bib; Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings; David Walker: Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World; Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life; Harriet Jacobs: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Iola Leroy; Charles Chesnutt: Marrow of Tradition; Nella Larsen: Quicksand and Passing.

Description: This course is a survey of American literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will be paying particular attention to the ways in which classic short stories and plays represent American culture and confront its construction and its myths specifically through portrayals of the family. Work by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Zora Neale Hurston, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Conner, Richard Wright, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lorraine Hansberry, and Hisaye Yamamoto are examples of the texts that will serve as focal points for or our discussions about family, race, culture, identity and sexuality. Our goals are to become familiar with American literary traditions, to develop an interpretative framework with which to read these works, and to understand the particularized historical, gendered and racial context of each.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: In recent years the term “queer” has emerged as an identity and an analytical framework that focuses on non-normative ways of being. This seminar will combine elements of critical race theory to investigate the particular experiences and cultural production of Black people who are determined to be gender variant and different sexualities. We will analyze written works and films/videos by and about lesbians, bisexual, transgender and gay Black people. Emphasis will be on understanding the historical and theoretical construction of sexual and gender identities and sexual/cultural practices in Black communities. Special attention will be paid to the construction of race, gender and sexual identities in North America, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

AFR 388 • Feminist Theories

This course introduces students to feminist theory as it intersects with race, nation, and sexuality. Since this is an introductory course, we will not explore feminist theory in all its incarnations. Rather than charting the historical development of a single body of knowledge called feminism, the class will read contemporary work by women that deals with questions of race, gender, transnationalism, and colonialism. Each week we will unpack one primary text with the intent of understanding the circumstances of its production, its significance, and how it can help us think about our own work.

E 316M • American Literature

35510-35535 • Fall 2014
Meets MWF 2:00PM-3:00PM BUR 106

Prerequisites: Completion of at least thirty semester hours of coursework, including E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A, and a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test.

Description: This course is a survey of American literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will be paying particular attention to the ways in which classic short stories and plays represent American culture and confront its construction and its myths specifically through portrayals of the family. Work by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Henry James, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Charles Chestnutt, Zora Neale Hurston, Hemingway, Flannery O'Conner, Junot Diaz, Richard Wright, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lorraine Hansberry, and Hisaye Yamamoto will serve as focal points for or our discussions about family, race, culture, identity and sexuality. Our goals are to become familiar with American literary traditions, to develop an interpretative framework with which to read these works, and to understand the particularized historical, gendered and racial context of each.

E F316K • Masterworks Of Lit: American

83130 • Summer 2014
Meets MTWTHF 8:30AM-10:00AM CLA 1.104

Prerequisites: Completion of at least thirty semester hours of coursework, including E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A, and a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test.

Description: This course is a survey of American literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will be paying particular attention to the ways in which classic short stories and plays represent American culture and confront its construction and its myths specifically through portrayals of the family. Work by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Henry James, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Charles Chestnutt, Zora Neale Hurston, Hemingway, Flannery O'Conner, Junot Diaz, Richard Wright, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lorraine Hansberry, and Hisaye Yamamoto will serve as focal points for or our discussions about family, race, culture, identity and sexuality. Our goals are to become familiar with American literary traditions, to develop an interpretative framework with which to read these works, and to understand the particularized historical, gendered and racial context of each.

Description: This course will survey some of the foundational texts of African American literature of the mid-to-late 20th Century. Class is a particularly important part of departure for the course material, especially as it relates to race, gender and sexual identity. As this is a writing-intensive course, we will pay particular attention to the style as well as the content of our texts. Considerable attention will be placed on close textual analysis, writing and revising skills. Discussion will also play an integral role in the course.

AFR 372E • Contemp Afr Amer Women Fic

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: SPECULATIVE FICTION OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA -- In this course, we will examine the novels and films of women of African descent produced from the 1970s to the present. We will focus on issues of imagination and the creation of spectacular images of the past and the future. This class gives special consideration to how African and African Diasporic spirituality is depicted in film and literature. In this course, we will use the work of history and psychoanalytic theory, cultural, queer, and feminist theories to assist our exploration of these questions and issues.

Required Texts: Beloved by Toni Morrison; Fledgling and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler; Erzulie’s Skirt by Ana-Marine Lara; Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson; Course Reader.

Requirements & Grading: 4 Short 1-pg Essays Based on Questions and Close Readings of Required Texts: 30%; 2 Short 3-pg Essays: 30%; 8-10-pg Research Paper; 20%; Attendance and Participation: 20%.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: This course is a survey of major black writers in the context of slavery and its immediate aftermath from the eighteenth century and ending in the beginning of the twentieth century. The eighteenth century saw the inauguration of writing from enslaved Africans in America. Even from a condition of bondage, their work contributes to literary and intellectual debates about the nature and limitations of freedom, personhood and citizenship. We will begin by examining issues of gender and sexuality from the perspectives of slaves and freed people. Throughout the course, we will view films and documentaries that illuminate this period of African American culture and history. We will also examine works by African American authors writing a generation after slavery as they look back to slavery in order to imagine the future of African Americans.

Texts: Henry Bibb: Narrative of the life and adventures of Henry Bib; Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings; David Walker: Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World; Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life; Harriet Jacobs: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Iola Leroy; Charles Chesnutt: Marrow of Tradition; Nella Larsen: Quicksand and Passing.

E 389P • Queer Theory

This course is an introduction to queer theory and queer culture. We will ask a variety of questions including What is queer theory’s relationship to feminism theory and critical race theory? To answer these questions, we will examine foundational texts and new scholarship in this emerging field. Topics to be considered will include diaspora theory, transgender theory, kinship, history and archives and queer temporalities. Both theory and culture will be “primary texts”; recent cultural texts and practices in a range of genres will be used as case studies to consider theoretical questions and thus will be integral to the course. Students will also be encouraged to develop their own research projects and to produce prospective conference papers and articles in the course.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: In recent years the term “queer” has emerged as an identity and an analytical framework that focuses on non-normative ways of being. This seminar will combine elements of critical race theory to investigate the particular experiences and cultural production of Black people who are determined to be gender variant and different sexualities. We will analyze written works and films/videos by and about lesbians, bisexual, transgender and gay Black people. Emphasis will be on understanding the historical and theoretical construction of sexual and gender identities and sexual/cultural practices in Black communities. Special attention will be paid to the construction of race, gender and sexual identities in North America, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: SPECULATIVE FICTION OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA -- In this course, we will examine the novels and films of women of African descent produced from the 1970s to the present. We will focus on issues of imagination and the creation of spectacular images of the past and the future. Considering the past violence and violations suffered under systems of racism, misogyny, and homophobia, what would a utopia or a dystopia look like? How does collective experiences of trauma influence our visions of utopia? In this course, we will use the work of history and psychoanalytic theory, cultural, queer, and feminist theories to assist our exploration of these questions and issues.

Required Texts: Beloved by Toni Morrison; Fledgling and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler; Erzulie’s Skirt by Ana-Marine Lara; Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson; Course Reader.

Requirements & Grading: 4 Short 1-pg Essays Based on Questions and Close Readings of Required Texts: 30%; 2 Short 3-pg Essays: 30%; 8-10-pg Research Paper; 20%; Attendance and Participation: 20%.

Only one of the following may be counted: AFR 374 (Topic 2: African American Literature through the Harlem Renaissance), 374F (Topic 1: African American Literature through the Harlem Renaissance), E 376R.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: The eighteenth century saw the inauguration of writing from enslaved Africans in America. Even from a condition of bondage, their work contributes to literary and intellectual debates about the nature and limitations of freedom, personhood and citizenship. We will begin by examining issues of gender and sexuality from the perspectives of slaves and freed people. We will also examine works by African American authors writing a generation after slavery as they look back to slavery in order to imagine the future of African Americans. This course is a survey of major black writers in the context of slavery and its immediate aftermath from the eighteenth century and ending in the beginning of the twentieth century. Throughout the course, we will view films and documentaries that illuminate this period of African American culture and history.

Texts: Henry Bibb: Narrative of the life and adventures of Henry Bib; Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings; David Walker: Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World; Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life; Harriet Jacobs: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Iola Leroy; Charles Chesnutt: Marrow of Tradition; Nella Larsen: Quicksand and Passing.

AFR 381 • Black Subjectivity

The initiation of the trans-Atlantic slave trade created great debate among philosophers, politicians and scientists concerning the question of African humanity. This course examines the historical antecedents to contemporary anti-Black racism. Looking at 18th Century philosophy, 19th Century comparative anatomy, slave narratives and recent scholarship such as critical race theory and psychoanalysis, we will explore the impact of the condition of slavery on the denial of Black subjectivity. As well, we will discuss whether and how Black experiences in the Americas index an incommensurable condition relative to other non-white racialized social groups. Can we locate a deep singularity defining Black experiences, at once connected to but immanently distinct than those of other groups?

83590 • Summer 2012
Meets MTWTHF 11:30AM-1:00PM PAR 206

Prerequisites: Completion of at least thirty semester hours of coursework, including E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A, and a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test.

Description: This course is a survey of American literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will be paying particular attention to the ways in which classic short stories and plays represent American culture and confront its construction and its myths specifically through portrayals of the family. Work by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Henry James, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Charles Chestnutt, Jack London, Theodore Dreiser, Zora Neale Hurston, Hemingway, Flannery O'Conner, Lorraine Hansberry, and Hisaye Yamamoto will serve as focal points for or our discussions about family, race, culture, identity and sexuality. Our goals are to become familiar with American literary traditions, to develop an interpretative framework with which to read these works, and to understand the particularized historical, gendered and racial context of each.

83820 • Summer 2012
Meets MTWTHF 10:00AM-11:30AM PAR 204

Prerequisites: Completion of at least thirty semester hours of coursework, including E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A, and a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test.

Description: This course is a survey of American literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will be paying particular attention to the ways in which classic short stories and plays represent American culture and confront its construction and its myths specifically through portrayals of the family. Work by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Henry James, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Charles Chestnutt, Jack London, Theodore Dreiser, Zora Neale Hurston, Hemingway, Flannery O'Conner, Lorraine Hansberry, and Hisaye Yamamoto will serve as focal points for or our discussions about family, race, culture, identity and sexuality. Our goals are to become familiar with American literary traditions, to develop an interpretative framework with which to read these works, and to understand the particularized historical, gendered and racial context of each.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: In recent years the term “queer” has emerged as an identity and an analytical framework that focuses on non-normative ways of being. This seminar will combine elements of critical race theory to investigate the particular experiences and cultural production of Black people who are determined to be gender variant and different sexualities. We will analyze written works and films/videos by and about lesbians, bisexual, transgender and gay Black people. Emphasis will be on understanding the historical and theoretical construction of sexual and gender identities and sexual/cultural practices in Black communities. Special attention will be paid to the construction of race, gender and sexual identities in North America, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: SPECULATIVE FICTION OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA -- In this course, we will examine the novels and films of women of African descent produced from the 1970s to the present. We will focus on issues of imagination and the creation of spectacular images of the past and the future. Considering the past violence and violations suffered under systems of racism, misogyny, and homophobia, what would a utopia or a dystopia look like? How does collective experiences of trauma influence our visions of utopia? In this course, we will use the work of history and psychoanalytic theory, cultural, queer, and feminist theories to assist our exploration of these questions and issues.

Required Texts: Beloved by Toni Morrison; Fledgling and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler; Erzulie’s Skirt by Ana-Marine Lara; Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson; Course Reader.

Requirements & Grading: 4 Short 1-pg Essays Based on Questions and Close Readings of Required Texts: 30%; 2 Short 3-pg Essays: 30%; 8-10-pg Research Paper; 20%; Attendance and Participation: 20%.

AFR 374F • Afr Am Lit Thr Harlem Renais

30319 • Fall 2011
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM PAR 303

AFR 381 • Black Feminist Theory

Black Feminist Theory

Black feminist theory constitutes a distinctive body of politics and thought, produced primarily by black women scholars, artist and activists, in various parts of the African Diaspora. This is a theory and methodology course. We will analyze black feminisms both as political space and scholarly choice. This framework will enable us to examine the continuities between black feminist theories in diverse locations, as well as to explore how different embodied experiences—including histories, geographies and genealogies-- condition divergent perspectives.Themes explored will include slavery, colonialism, diaspora consciousness, multiple genders and sexualities in Black cultures and communities, and class difference and inequities of power within Black communities;‘ womanism’; global and Third World feminisms; representation in popular culture; poetics and resistance. The class will be conducted using trans-disciplinary perspectives including anthropology, history, sociology, literature and film. We will challenge notions of “theory” as the province of the West [and North] and the middle-class. This course finds theory in literature, activism, art, ethnography and everyday life. This course is not meant to be an exhaustive reading list, but merely a starting point from which students can build upon in their annotated bibliographies and their seminar papers.

AFR S317F • Afr Am In Amer Cin, 1970s-Pres

This course is a survey of the representation of Black masculinity from the 1970's exploitation film genre through the contemporary independent films by Black people. We will discuss issues of race and racism, sexuality and homophobia as well as misogyny and sexism in Black representation. Students will be expected to watch and discuss films as well as read scholarly articles on race theory, feminist theory and cultural criticism.

AFR S374F • Contemp Afr Amer Women's Fict

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: SPECULATIVE FICTION OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA -- In this course, we will examine the novels and films of women of African descent produced from the 1970s to the present. We will focus on issues of imagination and the creation of spectacular images of the past and the future. Considering the past violence and violations suffered under systems of racism, misogyny and homophobia, what would a utopia or a dystopia look like? How does collective experiences of trauma effect our visions of utopia? In this course, we will use the work of history and psychoanalytic, cultural, queer and feminist theories to assist our exploration of these questions and issues.

Possible Texts: Beloved by Toni Morrison; Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler; Erzulie’s Skirt by Ana-Marine Lara; Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson.

AFR 317F • African American Lit And Cul

This course will survey some of the foundational texts of African American literature of the mid-to-late 20th Century. We will consider themes of race, gender, and sexual identity in all material. As this is a writing-intensive course, we will pay particular attention to the style as well as the content of our texts. Considerable attention will be placed on close textual analysis, writing and revising skills. Discussion will also play an integral role in the course.

AFR 374F • Contemp Afr Amer Women's Fict

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: SPECULATIVE FICTION OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA --In this course, we will examine the novels and films of women of African descent produced from the 1970s to the present. We will focus on issues of imagination and the creation of spectacular images of the past and the future. Considering the past violence and violations suffered under systems of racism, misogyny and homophobia, what would a utopia or a dystopia look like? How does collective experiences of trauma effect our visions of utopia? In this course, we will use the work of history and psychoanalytic, cultural, queer and feminist theories to assist our exploration of these questions and issues.

Possible Texts: Beloved by Toni Morrison; Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler; Erzulie’s Skirt by Ana-Marine Lara; Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson.

Requirements & Grading: 4 Short 1-pg Essays Based on Questions and Close Readings of Required Texts: 20%; 2 Short 3-pg Essays: 30%; Group Presentation and 4-pg paper: 20%; 8-10-pg Research Paper; 20%; Attendance and Participation: 10%.

AFR 374F • Afr Am Lit Thr Harlem Renais

Only one of the following may be counted: AFR 374 (Topic 2: African American Literature through the Harlem Renaissance), E 376R, 376M (Topic 1: African American Literature through the Harlem Renaissance).

Course Description: The eighteenth century saw the inauguration of writing from enslaved Africans in America. Even from a condition of bondage, their work contributes to literary and intellectual debates about the nature and limitations of freedom, personhood and citizenship. We will begin by examining issues of gender and sexuality from the perspectives of slaves and freed people. We will also examine works by African American authors writing a generation after slavery as they look back to slavery in order to imagine the future of African Americans. This course is a survey of major black writers in the context of slavery and its immediate aftermath. Throughout the course, we will view films and documentaries that illuminate this period of African American culture and history.

Texts: Henry Bibb: Narrative of the life and adventures of Henry Bib; Olaudah Equiano: The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings; David Walker: Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World; Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life; Harriet Jacobs: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Iola Leroy; Charles Chesnutt: Marrow of Tradition; Nella Larsen: Quicksand and Passing.